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Utopia

Alexandre A. R. Costa (Portugal)

LUMIERE DURHAM 2011

On the rooftop of a derelict building that was once an ice rink and a pleasure palace, Costa’s flickering installation appeared to question the original purpose of the space.

Utopia was inspired by Thomas More’s work of fiction written in 1516, in which he explored the idea of the ‘island’ as both liberating and isolating depending on your viewpoint. Utopia created a similar paradox depending on how you viewed the work as it rolled through a shifting sequence. With a constantly changing perspective, the word UTOPIA was only ever fully lit when the sequence aligned.

Artist and curator Alexandre A. R. Costa was born in 1973 in Braga, but lives in Porto, Portugal. He works across a variety of media from illustrations and photography to video and performance. Co-founder of a number of artistic spaces in Porto, he has also curated the activity at these spaces. His work is often concerned with a contemporary sense of disorder and transformation, disrupting the idea of communication systems, regularity, and the power of certainty.

alexandrearcosta.com

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